Filament-reinforced resin motor cases have been extensively used in the propulsion industry. Several advantages have resulted from employment of filament-reinforced resin motor cases. Some of the advantages include: lighter weight motor case, less insulation requirements for the filament-reinforced resin motor case, the ease of manufacture, storage, transportation, and stability against sparking or electrical conductance malfunctions.
A typical solid-propulsion rocket motor is composed of several layers of different materials; therefore, when the typical rocket motor is subjected to the radiation from a nuclear blast several modes of damage can result. The amount of this damage would be dependent upon the amount and the spectral distribution of the photon energy emitted from the burst and the absorptive characteristics of various materials, vaporization of the outer portions of material layers (which results in a compressive shock loading of the interior material), melting and internal heating can occur. The exterior layer of cork or similar thermal insulation which is usually employed on contemporary solid propellant systems serve as an effective absorber of the lower energy photons, however, the higher energy photons penetrate and cause heating of the internal structure with the consequent production of compressive stresses. As the stress field subsequently relaxes through the propagation of stress waves (as necessary to satisfy interface and boundary condition) transient tensile stresses of possibly damaging magnitude are produced.
Since the use of filament-reinforced resin motor cases has been well established, and well accepted in the propulsion field, an improvement to enable the case to withstand higher energy photons of the type associated with a nuclear blast environment would be advantageous. All of the advantages of a filament-reinforced resin motor case could be retained provided the improvement means were in harmony with the techniques of manufacture, the physical, qualitative, and mechanical and chemical properties required for the rocket motor case.
Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an improved nuclear blast-resistant rocket motor case which utilizes a means for selectively absorbing, preventing, or slowing the penetrating radiation of the type associated with a nuclear blast environment.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved nuclear blast-resistant rocket motor case which employs organotin polymers that provide a reduced degree of transparency to the radiation particles of a nuclear-blast environment.
Still another object is to provide inert rocket motor components which have a means included within for selectively absorbing, preventing, or slowing the penetrating radiation of the type associated with a nuclear blast environment.